Beautiful Monster
by Scarlet has Fantasy Issues
Summary: Elena and Stefan tracked him down after a girl went missing and they never expected what they found...Damon/OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don't claim to be knowledgeable about 'Vampire Diaries' or any of the characters, seeing as I've only watched part of a couple of seasons and have never read the books. I do claim to have fallen in love with Damon Salvatore and that sexy dance he did on the second floor in that one episode…~drools~ **

**Anyway, this is my first attempt at a 'Vampire Diaries' one shot, so please bear with me if everything is not up to your standards…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any character except for Cailee, so please don't take her. **

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_No matter what you do _

_Or how crazy you make me_

_I will always be here_

_And I'll always love you…_

Elena stepped out of the car and brushed the hair out of her face when the gentle breeze blew it. "Bonnie says he's in there," she said, gesturing at the little Victorian house with boarded up windows.

Stefan's nostrils flared as he scented the air and nodded in agreement. "He's in there." He sniffed again. "And so is she."

Elena nodded and crossed the leaf-covered lawn. She tested the door and found it locked. It didn't surprise her – Damon had never been one to let people in that easily. With a glance over her shoulder at Stefan as he approached from behind, she raised her hand and knocked on the door.

There were no approaching footsteps from within the house. Everything was silent except for her pounding heartbeat. Elena raised her hand again and knocked on the chipped wooden door.

"Maybe he left," Elena whispered, straining to hear any movement in the house. "And his scent is still hanging in the air…Stefan, he could be anywhere with her! He could have done something horrible to her!"

Stefan shook his head. "He's still in there and I don't smell blood." He sighed. "Damon, I know you're there and if you don't want me to come barging in, I'd suggest you open the door."

Nothing happened for the longest moment. Elena had a fleeting thought that maybe her boyfriend had finally lost it, but it passed as the door knob turned. The door opened wide enough for Damon to stick his head out and look at them.

"What do you want?" Damon asked in a bored tone. "And if you even think you're going to turn my bachelor pad into a new sex haven, think again." He smirked. "I can make an exception for you, Elena."

Elena made a face and rolled her eyes. "Right…Damon, where is she?"

"Where is who?" Damon asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb with me. You know exactly who I'm talking about."

"I do? Well that's news to me."

"Where is Cailee?" Elena demanded.

"I don't know who 'Cailee' is," Damon said, leaning against the door casually.

Stefan withdrew something from his pocket. It was a photograph of a girl with auburn hair and green eyes, holding a cat in her arms. "Does this jog your memory?"

Damon looked at the photograph and looked away. "Nope."

"That's odd, seeing as I found this photograph in your old room," Stefan said with a small smirk, waving it in Damon's face. "It was tucked in the corner of your mirror, so that it was the first thing you'd see in the morning."

"And I remember Cailee saying that she saw you watching her from a distance constantly when she was at school or at the mall," Elena added. "So, start talking Damon before things get ugly."

"What are you going to do?" Damon asked. "Take off Stefan's make up? Oh, I'm so scared." He straightened and frowned. "You two are barking up the wrong tree here. I've never seen this Cailee, but if I had she wouldn't be on the dating scene anymore. She looks rather…yummy."

"Well, if you don't have anything to hide, why don't you let us have a look around?" Stefan asked, taking a step forward as he slipped the photograph of Cailee back into his pocket. "As a particularly nice gesture on your part, shall we say?"

Damon threw up an arm, barring the way into his house. "No. You're not welcome here. So be the good boy that you are and take your girlfriend and leave. I'm missing my shows."

Elena ducked under Damon's arm and slipped into the house. "Cailee!" she called, peering into the living room as she passed it. "Cailee, are you in here?"

"She's not here," Damon said, dropping his arm as Stefan forced his way in.

Something fell over upstairs and the sound of running footsteps could be heard overhead. Stefan looked at his older brother.

"Are we supposed to believe that you have a pest problem then?" he asked.

"I have a new dog," Damon told him.

A quiet sob floated down the stairs.

"And that…I have a poltergeist and he's not very nice. I suggest you leave before he decides it's time to play."

Elena rolled her eyes and took a hesitant step onto the first stair. Damon appeared before her, blocking her way.

"Get out of my way," she ordered.

"I don't want to get rough, but I will if you make me have to keep you two from going upstairs. There are things up there that have personal value. And there are dangerous things up there," Damon warned. "I know you're a magnet for danger Elena, but for once, I think you should do your best to avoid it."

Elena stared at him evenly. "What are you hiding Damon?"

Damon didn't have an answer. Elena brushed past him and headed up the stairs. Stefan joined her as she stepped onto the second floor. A door stood at the end of the hall, light shining from under it. Shadows were moving around in front of the light. Both of them could hear someone muttering in there, a soft sob meeting their ears every once and awhile.

Elena put a hand on the door knob and turned it, slowly opening the door. "Cailee?"

Cailee was walking around the room, dressed in black sweat pants and a white tank top. She didn't seem to hear Elena as she paced the room, talking to thin air. She swung her hand at thin air as if she was striking someone in the face. Another sob tore at her throat and Cailee ran a hand through her disheveled hair. She spun on her heel and walked over to a corner of the room, putting her nose in the corner.

"Cailee?" Elena asked, taking a step into the room.

"No…no…shush, shush," Cailee whispered. "I can see the people laughing…oh, how they mock me. Sick little Cailee…Crazy Cailee…but the moon shines blue tonight on the hallowed grounds…no…no…"

"What did you do to her?" Stefan demanded of Damon as the older brother appeared in the room.

"I've done nothing to her," Damon said. "I didn't get her high or give her alcohol. I've been trying to help her."

Elena shook her head as she stared at the mumbling girl in horror. "What's wrong with her? She's so…different…She's not herself."

"She is herself," Damon replied with a sigh. "What you see every time you see her at school is the lie. It's what the medicine does to her. This, this is the real Cailee."

Stefan looked at him. "Is she -?"

Damon nodded. "She's got a mild case of schizophrenia."

Elena's eyes widened and she watched Cailee push herself away from the corner and start pacing again. "That's why people call her 'Crazy' Cailee. I thought it was because she was a party animal…I never thought –"

"She never wanted anyone to think that she was sick. When she had one episode at school, she had to do everything in her power to keep it from spreading too far around the general population. All of the teachers know about it and they do their best to keep her classmates in the dark. She just wanted to be treated normally."

"Damon, this doesn't explain why she's been with you for the past few weeks," Stefan pointed out. "No one has seen her for weeks. People are starting to worry about her."

"I know. I can explain that." He ran a hand through his hair and watched Cailee move around the room with sad eyes. "Cailee ran out of her medicine three weeks ago. I didn't find out about it until I witnessed episode after episode at her place. She begged me not to take her to the hospital and I wasn't going to force her."

"She needs to be in a hospital Damon. Look at her."

"No. She's fine with me. I reordered her medicine for her – she couldn't afford it anymore herself – and I can take care of her. She's safer with me."

Cailee whirled around as if she just realized she was being talked about and saw Elena. "El-Elena? No…no, I'm not…you're not…not real…not real…" She turned away and rubbed her arms, her chipped nails grazing the bare skin of her arms. "Nothing's real…not anymore…"

"Cailee, I'm real," Elena whispered, taking a step towards her friend. "Cailee, look at me. Let me help you…"

Cailee spun around and struck Elena across the face with enough force to knock Elena down. She growled and punched a wall, her knuckles popping and leaving bloody marks behind on the faded wall paper. She looked at her hands and tears fell down her cheeks.

"No…bad blood…Bad Cailee…You're not supposed to hit…not supposed to…" Cailee turned around and walked over to the boarded up window. "They're mocking me…the stars…everyone mocks me…because I'm not supposed to hit them…not supposed to hit anyone…But I hit her…hard…wasn't supposed to…sorry…sorry…"

Elena climbed awkwardly to her feet and touched her face. It hurt – she hadn't expected Cailee to have such strength. It scared her to see her friend like this, talking to thin air like she didn't have a care in the world.

"Damon, she needs to go to the hospital," Elena told him, turning to face him. "She needs her medicine. Now. And they can give it to her. They can –"

"I'm not taking her to the hospital," Damon stated firmly, his dark eyes glinting in his anger. "She is fine with me. Do you know what they'll do to her if she goes to the hospital? They'll stick her in the psychiatric ward, run tests on her, and drug her to the point she thinks everything is rainbows and unicorns. And then they'll force her to live with her distant, controlling relatives because they'll say she's not stable enough to live on her own anymore. Do you really want that to happen, Elena? Do you really want to lose one of your best friends like that?"

Elena shook her head. "Of course not. I just want to know that she's going to be all right. I don't want her to suffer from something that can be controlled."

"When is the medicine going to get here?" Stefan asked, watching Cailee pace the room. "And how long will it be until it has some effect on her?"

Damon sighed. "It's going to arrive sometime this week and it will take two days for it to really get moving in her system. Until then, she stays with me where she won't hurt anyone."

"Damon, why are you doing this?" Elena asked, an eyebrow arching in question. "Are you…are you in love with her?"

"Cailee, she's been the only girl that has seen through all of my acts and still loves me. She loves me and shares everything in her life with me. And even the boring everyday crap seems so interesting when she says it. We've talked for hours in her lucid moments, just talked on and on about the most random things in the world," Damon said, watching Cailee like she was the only person in the room. "I know everything about her and she knows everything about me…She wasn't scared when she found out that I was a vampire and she wasn't overly thrilled about it either…She called her 'beautiful monster'…She treated me the same as she always has…with love. Katherine couldn't do that for me, but Cailee makes me feel like there's nothing in the world that can stop me. Like I'm the only person in the world that truly matters to her. She makes me feel…alive." He flashed a small crooked smile. "And I finally let me guard down around her, seeing her so vulnerable before me all of these times changed me. I want to protect her. I want to hold her all the time. I want to love her as if I'll never have the chance to again. I want to love her for eternity and beyond…"

He was silent for a moment, just watching Cailee walk back over to the corner of the room once more. His eyes were soft and full of love and adoration when Elena looked at him more closely. She had never seen him like that before. He looked like he really was in love with Cailee.

"Don't over think this," Damon said, glancing at her. "I'm still the same old me. I just have sexy bombshell that I'll keep by my side forever."

"So you plan to turn her?" Stefan asked, crossing his arms. "Do you think that's wise?"

"That's for me to know and for you to dot, dot, dot," Damon said with a smirk. "Now, if you two don't mind…I'd like to have some alone time with Cailee. I'm sure you'll remember to kick your own selves out the door for me."

He gave them one last look before walking over to Cailee. He slid his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, whispering something in her ear. She turned around slowly and looked at him with love in her eyes, losing the crazy gleam that had been there moments before. Damon leaned in close to her and whispered something to her and she nodded. Elena watched him guide her to the floor where he held her in his arms and talked with her quietly.

Stefan touched her arm and motioned for her to start heading for the door. She followed him quietly, casting one final look over her shoulder at the two sitting in the corner.

"He's finally found love," Elena whispered to Stefan.

Stefan nodded in agreement. "He's finally over Katherine…and you."

"Yeah…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: So there you have it. A short little one shot. If you are nice and review me, I'll consider the idea of making this into a full length story. How about it? You want some more? Review please! ~ Scarlet**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Short update for those who decided to favorite my story, rather than review it.**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Damon watched Cailee pace around the room the next day. She was getting more agitated by the moment, working herself up into a fit as she rambled on to the voices in her head. It bothered him to see her this way, but he knew there was little he could do without forcing her to do something that she didn't want to do like sit down.

"This isn't going to work," she whispered, smacking herself on the head. "I can't keep going on like this…Damon, he'll grow tired of me and he'll send me away…I shouldn't have let it get this bad...nope, nope…I shouldn't have let him see me this way…he'll grow tired…"

"Don't count on it, love," Damon said, making his presence known.

Cailee's green eyes turned to him, a little glassy, but just as pretty as he remembered. She grabbed her arm, and frowned.

"I'm doing it again," she told him. "I'm rambling on and on again, aren't I?"

"Just a bit."

A soft sigh escaped her lips and she looked away, following something with her eyes that only she could see. "I know what I did…I know that I hit her…she was hurt, but I didn't think about it…Do you think Elena will forgive me?" she asked, turning her eyes to him once more.

"Of course she will. Elena is one of those kind few that give other people second chances. And she likes you."

The corner of Cailee's lips twitched up into a half smile. "I bet she thinks I'm a freak now…Crazy Cailee, doing bad things over and over again…Shut up!" She whirled around and swatted at thin air. A soft sob tore at her throat. "I…I have to stop this…"

"We will," Damon promised her, walking into the room. "We'll make you all better in no time."

"Damon…are you going to put me in the hospital?"

"No. We've already discussed this." Damon wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "You're going to stay with me until we get medicine in your system."

"The medicine…Is it here?" Cailee asked, wrapping her fingers in Damon's shirt. "Did the mailman bring it today?"

"Not yet."

"Ugh! What's taking it so long?" Cailee demanded, her eyes flashing with suppressed rage. "I am sick…the medicine people said that they'd deliver my medicine this week…why hasn't it come yet? Do they enjoy watching me suffer?" She looked up at the ceiling. "I know you're watching me! And I don't like it!"

Damon sighed. "Give the people a little more time. They probably already shipped your medicine out and it's probably a day away. You just have to be patient, Cailee."

Cailee looked at him once more. "My hands hurt…they sting like I punched something…and there's dried blood on my knuckles…Damon, did I punch something?"

"You don't remember?"  
" No."

"Well, after you smacked Elena around, you punched the wall." He smirked. "It wasn't the best decision you've made."

Cailee gave him a look before drawing her hands up between them. She stared at the dried blood on her knuckles for a moment, whispering something under her breath so low that even Damon's enhanced hearing couldn't pick it up. She balled her hand up into a fist, stretching the torn skin tight and held it up where Damon could see it.

"Kiss it and make it better," Cailee ordered with a small smile. "Or are you too macho to do it."

Damon grabbed her by the wrist and looked down at the torn skin. "As you wish, Ms. Cailee…"

He kissed her knuckles gently, earning only a single hiss from her when he got to the middle one which was the worst. A little giggle escaped her lips when he slipped his fingers in between hers and started dancing with her.

"There's no music," she commented as he spun her out and back into his arms.

"There doesn't have to be," Damon replied, pulling her closer as he danced with her. "We make our own music and write our own destinies."

They danced for a moment in silence. Cailee stared into his eyes with a content little smile on her face and he stared right back.

"Damon, would you tell me the truth if I asked you a question about us?" she asked.

"Always."

"Have you used…used your powers to control me?"

Damon shook his head. "I promised you from the very beginning that I would never use my powers on you. I don't need to because everything I could ever hope for you to say or do, you do it on your own. Why use my powers of persuasion when you're going to do something amazing anyway, on your own?"

"But when I get really bad…did the thought of using your mind control powers on me ever cross your mind when you saw me having episode after episode?"

"Not at all."

"Damon…please tell me the truth."

Damon leaned in closer to her, resting his forehead against hers. "I haven't thought about using my powers on you, Miss Cailee."

"But if I get really bad and the medicine doesn't come or it doesn't work…would you consider using your powers?"

"No because then you wouldn't be you. I'd take a thousand episodes than a minute of you under my control." He smirked. "Though the things we could do if you were under my control are intriguing…"

Cailee's cheeks flushed with color. Damon smiled at her and pressed his lips to her temple. He loved seeing some color in her face, even though he knew it would drain away just as fast as it had appeared. Her sickness seemed to suck away all of her color, leaving her as pale as porcelain. On someone that was not dead or a vampire, it was disturbing to see her look so unhealthy, but there was nothing he could do without the medicine.

"Will the medicine work Damon?" Cailee asked when she could stand to look at him without blushing.

"It will," Damon promised. "Or I'll hunt down your doctors and make them find something that will before I kill them. How about that?"

Cailee shook her head. "The doctors are only human. They have no control of what goes on in my head…they just do their best to fix it…" She looked thoughtful. "It might be time for my dosage to be upped though…more drugs, less thoughts…"

That was what Damon was afraid of.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Damon wandered down the stairs of the house when someone knocked on the door. He peered through the little spy-hole in the door and saw the mailman standing there, waiting patiently with a package. A sigh of relief came out as he undid the locks and opened the door.

A few minutes later, Damon was closing the door and holding the package. He wandered into the kitchen, opening the package with a pair of scissors. Two white bottles full of little pills rolled out on the counter and Damon examined the words printed on the label.

_They kept it at the same dosage…_he thought with a frown. _Great…Here's hoping that she'll be able to cope with this…_

Damon heard silence upstairs as he climbed the staircase. He had left Cailee asleep on the floor after an hour of just watching her sleep. But as he climbed the staircase, he couldn't even hear her breathing. That made fear claw at his insides, suddenly casting a deathly chill over his shoulders.

"Cailee?" he asked, pushing open the door.

The room was empty. Cailee's shoes that had been tucked in the corner were gone and so was her jacket. The boarded up window was no longer boarded up, standing open to the world outside. Damon dropped the pill bottle and ran over to the window, looking out at the world in hopes of catching a glimpse of his new love.

But she was nowhere to be seen. She had vanished like a ghost into the setting sun. And she was still off her medicine, growing worse by the moment.

"Cailee…" he breathed, staring out at the world. "Where would you go?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Cailee pulled on the sleeves of her jacket, making them cover her hands which were growing cold in the chilly autumn air. She smoothed her hair down and looked around. She had no clue where she was. All she knew was that she had to get away from the house. That place was like a suffocating prison where she was locked in a room all day with no light.

She tipped her face up to be kissed softly by the sun's gentle glow. How she had missed the sun these past few weeks, but the light was blinding. She knew that in the world of the light, she would be considered a freak and could practically hear people mocking her and jeering at her. It hurt her head to have so many voices speaking at once, but she knew that there would be no reprieve.

_Damon's going to be mad_, she couldn't help thinking. _He's going to be mad that I left home to wander the streets in fear of something happening…All the bad things, they're out here, waiting for me. But I couldn't stay…the men in white coats were standing at the door, waiting for him to turn me over to them. He promised that I wouldn't have to go, but the men in white coats came for me anyway…Too bad they won't find me…Damon won't even find me._

She smiled a small little smile and walked out into the street, not paying attention to the cars that were speeding past. She had places to go and people to avoid.

_Damon, come and find me before something gets me…_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: She's on the loose, what more could you ask for to stir up some hell in town? Reviewers are wanted.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the review and the favorites guys! That's something I was hoping to see. I decided this isn't going to be a big story, so there's only going to be a few more chapters after this one…sorry.**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_Cailee felt people move around her and tried her best to make her small enough to be ignored. It seemed to work because no one seemed to notice her in their haste to get out of the building. She waited until the rushing tides of people ended and she found herself alone, but she was never alone…_

_She walked out into the sunlight and made her way across the front lawn, tripping over the gnarled root of a tree. Her books went flying out of her hands when she attempted to catch herself on the ground._

"_Stupid…stupid Cailee," she whispered, pushing herself onto her knees. "Not looking where you were going…that root always gets you."_

_She turned to look at the root that had tripped her, but it was nowhere to be seen. Cailee's green eyes welled up with tears and she quickly closed them to hold back the rushing rivers. _

"_I won't cry… not over another hallucination…I'm not a crybaby…"_

_She turned her gaze once more to her books and reached to pick them up. Someone stooped down and picked up her last book, turning it over in his hands._

"_The Diary of Cailee…" he read off the cover. "I bet it's full of so many tales of preps and jocks who looked at you the wrong way and pains of the heart that yearns for the most popular boy in school."_

_Cailee couldn't help but smile at him. "You know better than that." _

"_I do, but it still hasn't been proven," Damon replied, holding out a hand to help her up. "You haven't let me read this yet."_

"_That's because there are things in it that would scare you away from me," Cailee explained as she had once before, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "Things that I have seen or have dreamed about…things that aren't real but could always become real…Damon, I don't want to lose you because of what I see in my head…"_

_Damon smiled and pulled her close, his hand pressing gently into the small of her back. "Nothing you can do will scare me away."_

"But what if it was something so horrible that you would never look at me the same way again," Cailee whispered as her hallucinated memory vanished before her as she walked past the school. "What if it was something that was so violent and grotesque that everyone hated me and you could never look at me again without feeling fear, feeling disgusted?"

Damon didn't respond. He hadn't responded then either.

"Hey Crazy Cailee!" someone called, getting out of their car while their friends watched. "Where have you been?"

Cailee turned and saw that it was the original most popular boy in school coming towards her while his football friends sat in the car with moronic smiles on their faces. The sickness closed in over her and she saw the skin peeling off the boy's face and saw the fire lighting up the car as the demons in it called out to the popular boy.

"Get away from me," Cailee ordered, backing away from him. "Get away from me!"

"Cailee, what is wrong with you?" he asked, reaching for her.

Cailee screamed and punched him in the stomach. When he doubled over, she had already found a broken branch and she brought it down on his head. He collapsed on the ground and his friends called out and started getting out of the car.

Cailee screamed again and threw the branch at them, running off in fear.

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Bonnie had been walking past the school, looking for a certain flower she'd seen growing on the grounds when she heard the scream. Her eyes snapped up and she saw Cailee running off with a group a football players chasing after her. From where she stood, she could see the fear in Cailee's eyes as the girl approached her and knew that something was wrong.

With a thought, Bonnie put a barrier between Cailee and the boys that stopped the boys in their tracks. Cailee didn't stop running.

"Cailee, are you okay?" she asked, reaching for her.

Cailee's eyes widened and tears fell from her eyes when she saw that it was Bonnie that was reaching for her. "Bonnie…help me…" she begged, trembling with effort. "I killed him…I killed him!"

Bonnie looked past Cailee and saw a few football players standing next to a collapsed form on the ground. She saw that he was moving, but barely.

"Honey, you didn't kill him," Bonnie assured her.

"I did…" Cailee whispered, closing her eyes. "I need Damon…"

"I'll call Elena and she'll take you to him," Bonnie said, turning her gaze away from Cailee for a second to pull her phone out of her bag. When she looked up, Cailee was gone. "Cailee? Cailee!"

There was no sign of her. Bonnie quickly punched in a number and pressed her phone against her ear.

"Elena, we've got a problem," Bonnie said, letting her barrier against the football players' drop. "It's about Cailee…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Elena opened the door when someone knocked on it. She wasn't surprised when she saw that it was Damon. He gave her a look and she stepped aside, letting him slip inside.

"How could you let her run away?" Elena demanded, crossing her arms as she walked away from the door.

"Whatever happened to 'hi, it's nice to see you'?" Damon shot back, glaring at her.

"There's no time for formalities and you know it. Cailee's out there because you didn't keep an eye on her," Elena snapped, glaring right back at him.

"So this is my fault?"

"Yes. You were the one who was supposed to be watching her."

"I was watching her."

"Then how did she get away?"

"I left her upstairs – asleep, for your information – and went downstairs for two minutes to get her medicine from the mailman," Damon explained. "The windows were boarded up and the window locked. I didn't hear her move at all."

"But she got away," Elena pointed out.

"Yes."

"The medicine came in?" Stefan asked, appearing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Yes."

"Did you give her the medicine before she ran away?"

"No. Now get your scrawny girlfriend off my back," Damon ordered, gesturing at Elena. "I'm having a bad enough day without her berating me for something I already feel like shit about."

Elena made a face and sat down on the arm of a sofa. "I'm just…I'm worried about her. She's out there by herself, without her medicine and is probably thinking that the world is against her. Bad things could happen to her and unless we do something to get her back, she could end up hurting someone else or…herself."

"Hurting someone else?" Damon looked down at her.

"She attacked someone near the school," Stefan explained, crossing his arms. "It was no one really important and I don't think his family is going to press charges…"

"Maybe we need to call the -"

"We are not going to call the police," Damon snapped, cutting across Elena. "That's the last thing we need to do." His eyes gleamed. "No what we need to do is get your little witch friend to come up with a locator spell and get our vampire selves out there on the trail."

"We better do it soon," Stefan said, reaching for his jacket. "A storm is supposed to hit within the next couple of hours and the temperatures are going to dip below zero with an even lower wind chill and icy rain."

Damon turned and marched over to the door once more, opening it. A gust of wind ruffled his hair and stirred his clothes. "You can come or you can stay. I just thought you were the ones that always played the hero."

Elena watched him walk out of the house, leaving the door wide open. She shivered when the wind swept through the house, casting a chill over her shoulders. "Stefan, you have to go with him. Find Cailee and bring her home safely," she whispered, looking at her boyfriend. "Damon won't be the same without her…"

Stefan nodded, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I'll be back when we find her."

Elena watched Stefan walk to the door and slip outside into the dim light of the fading sun. The door swung shut behind him and Elena reached for her phone.

"Cailee, please be found safely…"

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Cailee tripped and fell over her own feet. She shivered and watched her breath show in a small fog. A small smile appeared on her lips as she saw Damon standing next to the woods. "Damon!"

She pushed herself to her feet and ran after him. He was walking away now, leading her into the woods. Cailee could barely make him out against the dark trees in the darkening sky, but she kept her eyes trained for the slightest movement. On and on she traveled, following her boyfriend, but he would never stop for her when she called out to him. He was constantly growing farther and farther away, making no sound and leaving no footprints behind in the soft mud.

"Damon!" Cailee called again, losing sight of him. "Damon where are you?"

She saw a deep pit in the ground in front of her and took a step back before catching sight of Damon across it. He motioned for her to come after him and Cailee smiled. She took a few steps back and took a running leap over the pit. Unfortunately, she misjudged the distance and fell back into the pit, hitting her head against a rock at the bottom of it.

"Damon…" she whispered before darkness closed in over her.

**A/N: So, are you still interested? Stay tuned for more updates in the near future. Reviews are wanted! ~ Scarlet**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm glad to see that so many people have taken an interest in my pairing of Damon and an OC. Yes, this OC is a bit different from the others, seeing as she's schizophrenic, but this OC hits close to home for me. I'll love you dearly if you keep on reading. Thanks!**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Cailee opened her eyes, hearing the voices calling to her. Her head was swimming with the noise and the pain. She didn't understand the pain. Why did it hurt move? Why couldn't she lift her head? Where was that smell of blood coming from?

_Damon…_

He'd been there before this had happened. He had led her here. Maybe they were playing a game? He'd let her out and they were playing a 'Can You Catch Me' game, right?

Cailee closed her eyes once more. It didn't make sense. Why would Damon play a game with her if she hadn't taken her medicine? She was supposed to have her medicine in her system for two days before she was allowed outside.

_But I was clever…I got out before Damon came back upstairs. _She smiled and opened her eyes once more. _Ooh, won't he be mad when I get back._

Her head swam more when she pushed herself into a sitting position. She couldn't see where she was. She could barely make out her fingers in front of her face when she tried to count them to clear her vision. With a sigh, she reached behind her head and felt something warm and sticky on her fingertips.

"So you made yourself bleed," Damon's voice came from the darkness. "That's a nasty habit you have."

"Damon!" Cailee exclaimed, looking around instantly forgetting about the blood. "Damon, where are you? Why is everything so dark?"

"Well, that's obvious. It is night and you're in the woods. What else did you expect?"

"Damon, why aren't you being nice to me?" Cailee demanded, crossing her arms. "Are you mad at me?"

"You ran away from me."

"The bad men were at the door. I couldn't let you have them take me away."

"You need to be taken away to the hospital. There's no time for me to take care of you anymore. I won't be put through that tiring activity again. It's time for you to go the hospital."

"But Damon you promised that I wouldn't have to go to the hospital! You promised me!"

"_You promised me!_" Damon said in a mocking voice. "Since when have you known me to keep all of my promises? Especially to women, dear Miss Cailee."

Cailee could feel the tears stinging her eyes as she closed them. "This isn't real. None of this is real. You would never say these things to me. No, I'm hallucinating again."

A hand wrapped around her wrist and squeezed hard. She could smell Damon's cologne over the smell of the blood and whimpered.

"That's all you ever do anymore," Damon said. "Hallucinate. I'm getting sick of it. Every second of my attention has to be devoted to you because of your hallucinations. I've killed humans as annoying as you, without regrets. I'd kill you right now if I hadn't wasted so much time on you before. Why should I waste anymore energy on you?"

"Damon…please don't say that…" Cailee whimpered, begging him to stop. "Please Damon…"

Damon laughed a cold, hard laugh. "_Please stop Damon…Don't say these things because I can't face the truth_," he said in a mocking voice. "Oh, grow up Cailee. This is the real world and in the real world, people say rude things. They only seem rude because you don't want to face the truth in what they're saying. And in the real world, there are places for people like you. Sick, little people that talk to walls and thin air…they belong in the hospital forever and ever and ever." He smiled in the darkness. "That's where you belong."  
"No Damon. You said –"

"I lied."

Something cold and wet landed on Cailee's face and she shivered. White snow was falling on her and that's when she noticed that the temperature was dropping. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked around wildly for Damon.

"Damon?"

"You're going to stay in this hole all night," Damon's voice said from above. "Then, if you're not already dead, you'll go to the hospital where the world will finally leave you alone. And where you will remember me for the lie that I made you believe that I was. Where you will be poked and prodded and everything is a test. Where I will no longer have to babysit you constantly." There was a smirk in his tone now. "And know that I never loved you."

"Damon!" Cailee cried, trying to push herself to her feet, but when she moved she felt dizzy. "Damon, please stay with me!"

Damon laughed and Cailee heard retreating footsteps. Moments later, all she heard was silence. A cold, lonely silence that cut her worse than any of Damon's harsh words had.

"Damon," Cailee whispered, burying her face against her knees as she laid back down in the fetal position in an attempt to keep warm.

All that she wanted to do was make herself so small that she'd simply vanish off the face of the planet.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_Damon watched her dance around her room, singing along with the radio. It amazed him how she could make dancing in her underclothes and singing into a hairbrush look so amazing. She seemed to have forgotten that she had allowed him into her house as she sang for an invisible audience._

_The music stopped and Cailee took a deep bow. "Thank you, thank you," she sang, taking another bow. "You're all too kind."_

_Damon brought his hands together and she spun around wildly. A flush of color flooded her cheeks as she realized that she had been caught in the act. Damon smiled at her as he entered the room._

"_You have a lovely voice, Miss Cailee," he told her, wrapping his arms around her slim waist. "And your body, it just calls out to be touched."  
"Too bad you won't be doing any touching," Cailee said, sliding her hand under her shirt so she could trace little designs on his chest. "You promised that you'd behave tonight."_

"_I can behave and touch." Damon leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. "With that little show, how can I resist you?"_

"_You could try to."_

_Cailee stepped away from him before he could kiss her again. She giggled at him and walked over to her desk, picking up her History book. "I've got a quiz to study for. And I was thinking that maybe you could help me with the studying."_

_Damon rolled his eyes. "That's exactly how I want to spend a Thursday night with a half –naked bombshell, studying."_

"_Oh come on Damon." Cailee sat on her bed and smiled at him. "I need to pass this quiz to get an A for this semester."_

"_I still don't see why I should help."_

_Cailee's smile grew wider and more catlike. "Well, I think I can make this a little more interesting for you, babe."_

"_Enlighten me."  
"For every answer I get wrong, you'll get a point. Get enough points and your night can get rather interesting. But if I get the answer right, I get a point and if I get enough points, I get to pick what we do. The night can still be interesting."_

_Damon smirked and sat on the bed across from her, running a hand up her leg. "What if there's a tie?"_

_Cailee's eyes wandered elsewhere for a moment, following something that he would have done anything to get rid of but would never see. "Well, then we'll just have to flip a coin to see who gets to pick what we do tonight." She put a hand over his, stopping it when it grew close to the top of her thigh. "We will behave until then. Understand?"_

_Damon nodded. "Yeah, whatever."_

_Cailee smiled at him. "How about we kiss to seal the deal?"_

_Damon smirked and kissed her, gently pulling her closer as he deepened the kiss. He could feel the hunger welling up inside of him…_

"_Damon…"_

"Damon," Stefan said, breaking Damon's train of thought. "Do you know anywhere else she could have gone?"

"What?" Damon looked at the dark library and sighed. "Other than the theater, no. She didn't like to go out much. Being around too many people made her problem a little worse."

The snow around them was falling heavier and the temperature was dropping considerably. Damon was growing more worried by the minute, knowing that Cailee hadn't been dressed for a snowstorm. If they didn't find her soon, he didn't want to think about the consequences. And they'd already spent hours scouring the town with no sighting of her.

"Maybe she went back home," Stefan said, trying to be the optimist. "We didn't check back at your place."

"She thought it was a prison, there's no way she'd go back there," Damon muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets as he started walking again. "When is your little witch friend going to pinpoint Cailee's location."

"Give her time."

"We don't have time. Cailee's out there somewhere, probably lost and confused. Hell, I know she's confused. Every second that passes, I'm losing a little bit more of her to the sickness and to the cold…"

Stefan's phone rang and he checked the screen. "It's Elena. They've got a location."

_Find me Damon. Find me…_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: Short update, but that's what you get with writer's block. That evil little thing stole away my Damon muse and I don't know how to get him back. So, until then, please review and I'll see you in 2011. ~ Scarlet**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Short chapters come with the simple fact that I haven't watched Vampire Diaries in forever and my depressed mood. Hope you'll stick around for this. And thanks for the reviews.**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Cailee was so cold as she lay there in the darkness. She could feel a cold layer of powder covering her body, leeching away the last bit of her warmth. Shivers had given way to violent shudders what did little to warm her body. Frost was forming on her hands where she breathed on them. Her tears were frozen little crystals on her face.

"D..Da –Dam-on," she whispered, her teeth chattering. "Wh-why d-d-id you l-lea-ve m-me?"

She was starting to feel really sleepy. Part of her was worried about it because she had learned about this kind of thing in Health. But there was a part of her that was whispering to her of the peace to come.

They promised that the voices would go away. She'd be in a place where there would be no more headaches caused by the voices mixed with the voices of others. There would be no more hallucinations of people falling to pieces. She'd no longer see herself do unspeakable things that frightened her. Everything would just melt away and she would be safe and happy for the rest of time.

_But what about Damon? _she wanted to ask. _What will happen to Damon if I go? Will he go back to the way he was, feeding on different women each night? Killing people for the thrill? Following Elena blindly? _

She blinked back more tears. _Or will he give up? Will he mourn over my death for years until the pain becomes too unbearable? Will he lose the will to live and find some vampire or beast that will end him forever? Will I lose the man I love for an eternity because I am too weak to continue in this cold?_

_Oh Damon! I love you! Please, hear me in this darkness! I can't live without you and I know that it wasn't you that said those hurtful things to me. It was simply a hallucination. But, you must be cross with me…I want you to know that I never meant to hurt you all those times and that…I have always been in love with you. If you had asked me for anything, I would have given it to you in a heartbeat, but…what good is that knowledge now? I'm dying and I'll never get to see your face again…Oh, I would be happy forever if I could only see one more hallucination. A hallucination of your face that would follow me into the next life as I close my eyes…it wouldn't be as good as the real thing but it would be enough to give me comfort…_

"Damon…" she whispered, closing her eyes against the darkness. "I… love y…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Damon tore through the woods, leaping over stumps in his haste to get to Cailee. All he could smell was snow. Cold, wet snow that was choking the scent of his love every second. He couldn't smell Cailee no matter how hard he tried.

"Are you sure that your friend can't get a better location?" he demanded, whirling on his brother. "'The woods' isn't a great indicator of exactly where we can find Cailee!"

Stefan stopped running. "Bonnie isn't an expert witch yet. She tried her best."

"Well, her best wasn't good enough." Damon muttered, looking around. "For all we know, Cailee has already moved out of these woods. Or worse, she's fallen in a hole and died of hypothermia…" His eyes narrowed. "If she's dead, this town is going to be destroyed."

"Why would you threaten your hometown?" Stefan asked, walking off in a random direction. "I thought you didn't get attached to women."

"Cailee's different," Damon said, following after his brother. "She's something special…you wouldn't understand since you have the run-of-the-mill girl with Elena." Stefan shot him a dirty look. "Look, Cailee treats me as if I'm just a normal guy. She doesn't care that I'm a vampire. She just treats me like I'm a human who she loves enough to move the stars for. We do everything together and I've spent so many hours talking with her, getting her point of view of the world that is so close and so new to me…" He sighed. "Again, you wouldn't understand."

Stefan ran a hand through his hair. "But she's sick Damon."

"Don't you think I know that by now?" Damon shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked over the snowy ground. "I knew she was sick when I met her. I thought she'd make the perfect person to get a quick meal from – that she'd be easy to shag and leave. But she wasn't. She was…so different from everyone else I've encountered. The sickness, it's only made me want to protect her more…I still want to protect her from her demons, but…"

"We'll find her," Stefan promised, reaching for his phone when it rang again. "It's Elena again…Maybe the zeroed in on her…"

Damon continued walking away from his brother, straining to hear even the faintest breath. The woods around him were silent and snow was covering every inch of it. He strained to smell anything familiar that would lead him to Cailee.

_Damon…_

His eyes widened as he caught a whiff of blood. Her blood. It was cold and congealed, but it was still strong enough to lead him to her.

"Cailee!" he called, rushing through the trees as he followed the scent. "Cailee hold on! I'm coming for you!"

_Please don't let me be too late_, Damon sent his prayer up to the cosmos.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_A girl was struggling to hold her books with one hand and open her locker with the other. Elena noticed her when Stefan caught the book that slipped out of her hand. _

"_Do you need some help?" Stefan asked, smiling at her._

_Elena reached over and opened the girl's locker for her. "Hi, I'm Elena."_

"_I know you," the girl said. "Both of you…um, you're in the same Chemistry class as me. I sit closest to the door, so it's understandable that you don't know me. I'm kind of quiet, you know?"_

_Stefan put her book in her locker for her and noticed a strange white scar on her shoulder. His glance had Elena looking at it too. It was in the shape of a bite mark._

"_What's your name?" Elena asked. _

"_Oh, my name's Cailee," the girl said, flashing an uncertain smile. _

_Elena noticed that Cailee's eyes never stayed focused on her or Stefan for more than a few seconds at a time. It was like she was looking at something that they couldn't see._

"_Thanks for your help," Cailee muttered, pulling out a batter black journal before closing her locker. "It was nice to meet you."_

"_Where did you get that scar?" Stefan asked before Cailee could make an escape. _

_Cailee's eyes widened. "What?"_

"_That scar," Stefan said, pointing at it._

_Cailee closed a hand over it and looked away. "I don't know…It must have happened a long time ago because I don't remember getting it…"_

"_It looks like someone bit you," Elena said. "A v-" A look from Stefan made her shut up. "Who would bite you?"_

"_An ex-boyfriend? I told you that I don't know. Please, I have to go. There's someone waiting for me outside."_

"_But-"_

"_It was nice to talking with you, bye." Cailee ducked her head and walked briskly through the front doors of the school. _

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Elena handed Bonnie a can of pop. The witch kept her eyes trained on a map of the woods that Elena had managed to find. She was looking to see if Cailee's location changed.

"It's too bad we can't tell if she's okay or not," Elena commented, taking a sip of her own drink. "She hasn't moved in hours."

"My magic can't tell us everything yet," Bonnie commented with a frown. "All we can do is hope that the boys find her before something really bad happens to her."

"How do you know Cailee?" Elena asked.

Bonnie looked up from the map with a small smile. "I met her in the library one day. She was talking to thin air, trying to decide which book to get. I offered some helpful advice and she started talking to me instead."

"Didn't you think it was weird that she was talking to thin air?"

"A little, but then again, I had heard the rumors about her. But she was so different from what the rumors said she was." Bonnie smiled and looked down at her hands for a moment. "She was happier and…she acted, well, sane or as sane as she could, given her circumstances. I couldn't help caring about her and becoming her friend. She trusted me and told me the secrets she'd been keeping from everyone. About Damon and her illness."

"Did she ever attack you?" Elena asked, thinking about her own run in with Cailee a day ago. Her face still smarted from Cailee's hand.

"No."

"And she told you about her relationship with Damon?"

"She didn't tell me who he was by name, but I knew who it was when she started talking about how darkly handsome he was and how he always acted macho around everyone but her." Bonnie looked back at the map. "That's how I knew she would be with Damon when she went missing. From what I heard, he would do anything for her…"

Elena nodded and tapped her fingers against the side of her drink. "He would. It's strange to see him acting like that though. In all the time I've known him, he's never kept a steady relationship with anyone. Humans are playthings to him, good for an occasional snack and tumble in bed. He dumps them almost as soon as he gets them. But then he meets Cailee and everything changes. It's like he became a completely different person as soon as she stepped into his life."

Bonnie's smile widened. "True love will do that to anyone. Finding your soul mate after hundreds of years will change a man or a vampire. Remember Katherine and how she treated him like dirt? Well, he's finally found someone that loves him for who he is, not for what he can give her. Not for the entertainment or the great sex. He's found someone who loves him because of the heart he has and the way he is. And he's found someone that he can drop his guard around and love entirely." Her eyes twinkled in the dim light of the kitchen. "You should know about this because the same thing happens daily between you and Stefan."

Elena felt a flush of heat warm her face. "I don't know. Stefan and I fight a lot and I haven't been a great girlfriend."

"No one ever is," Bonnie commented. "But you're great for him like Cailee is for Damon." She looked down at the map and frowned, her eyebrows furrowing. "That's strange…"

"What?"

"The light showing where Cailee is, it's fading," Bonnie whispered, looking up with wide eyes. "I think we're losing her!"

**A/N: Sounds kind of like a hospital show at the end, doesn't it? Oh well…Please review and I'll get cracking on the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Why is no one reviewing me? Did I say something wrong? If so, I'm sorry. But for now, I'm giving you a peace offering. I'm giving you another update where something good happens. Enjoy!**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_Cailee rolled over onto her side and stared out at the window. "Damon, have you ever thought about where our relationship was going?"_

"_What are you talking about?" Damon asked, running his hand down her arm. "Our relationship is heading towards greatness."_

"_Have you even thought about asking me to marry you after I graduate from high school?" Cailee questioned. "Because we're doing a lot of things that married couples do."_

"_Then I don't see why we have to waste our money on a ceremony that will make our relationship legal. I prefer to think of a seventeen year old and a…God, how old am I again?" He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I like us the way we are without the fussy legal workings."_

"_But I've always wanted a big wedding," Cailee muttered, closing her eyes when she saw something she didn't want to. "A wedding that I could celebrate with all of my friends and family. To prove to them that I can find my happily ever after."_

_Damon was silent for a moment. "If you want a wedding, you'll get one. After you graduate from high school."_

"_But you don't want one…"_

"_I want what you want." Damon kissed her shoulder. "I want to make you happy."_

"_Then tell me what your plans are for the future. Our future."_

"_When you turn twenty, I'm going to give you a choice. A choice that I never had." He sat up beside her and looked down at her. "It will give you something to seriously consider, something that I have contemplated over hours and hours."_

"_What is it?" Cailee asked, opening her eyes when she thought it was safe. _

"_I'm going to give you the choice of becoming a vampire or staying a human," Damon announced. "You can stay human and grow old while I remain eternally youthful and you will die of old age. I'll follow shortly after you. Or I can change you into a very simple process -."_

"_Where you have to kill me," Cailee whispered, watching a cloud drift in front of the moon._

"_That's part of it, but it's not something that I will enjoy. Your blood, yes. But not killing you." Damon sighed. "And then you'll become a vampire and live for an eternity with me if we're lucky."_

"_Damon, you want to turn me into a vampire?"_

"_If you want to become one, yes."_

_Cailee rolled over and looked at him. "Damon, aren't I dangerous enough as it is?"_

"_What?"_

_She sat up and looked him dead in the eye. "I've hurt people. I've hurt you."_

"_Accidentally."_

"_It doesn't matter if it was an 'accident'. I've done horrible things to people. I'm a monster as it is. Why would you want to make me a monster to everyone?"_

"_Is that what you think a vampire is? A monster?" Damon stared at her. "Do you think I'm a monster?"_

"_No…but I'm a monster. If you make me a vampire, who's going to stop me from becoming even worse than I am now?"_

_Damon grabbed her hand and held it tightly in his. "You are not a monster. You are a sick person. And if you were a monster, you'd be my beautiful monster and I'd love you forever. But if I didn't think that turning you into a vampire would help cure your…problems, I wouldn't turn you. I have faith that vampirism can cure anything."_

"_Have you ever heard of a mentally ill person becoming a vampire and getting cured?" _

_Damon shook his head and smirked. "You'll be the first one, babe."_

_Cailee shook her head furiously and threw her pillow across the room. "Damon, maybe no one has tried because they know that it won't work."_

"_You don't even want to try."_

"_For you, I would, but I have little faith. I don't think that I can get cured."_

_Damon took both of her hands in his and pulled her closer to him. "Cailee, it will work. It has to work. It's all I have."_

_Cailee shook her head again. "No. You had me." She closed her eyes against her tears. "But Damon, I think you have to leave now."_

"_What?"_

_Cailee reached under her mattress and pulled out a stake. "Get out now. Please. I can feel them coming. You have to leave now. Don't come back."_

"_Cailee, watch where you point that." Damon ordered, backing out of the bed. "You'll poke someone's eye out…or kill them."_

"_Get out." Cailee snapped, her eyes unfocused and glassy. "Get out now! Go away and never come back! Never!"_

_Damon backed away, scooping his shirt off the floor. "I'll come back for you…" he promised before vanishing._

_Cailee stood there for a moment, holding the stake and then came to. She frowned when she saw that he was gone and then realized what she had just done. Tears came and fell from her eyes as she sank back down onto her bed with no end in sight._

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Damon stopped at the side of a hole and looked up when Stefan appeared next to him. "She's down there," he said, looking down at the black hole once more. "I'm going in after her. Catch her when I pass her up."

Stefan nodded, but a frown was firmly placed on his face. Damon knew why too. He could barely make out the sounds of Cailee breathing as she lay in the bottom of the hole. A soft sound of a faint heartbeat, faint ragged breaths. It tore at his heart to think that if he had arrived minutes later that he might have heard nothing at all.

Damon carefully jumped down into the hole and brushed piles of snow off of Cailee's cold body. She was so cold that she had stopped shivering. And even in the darkness, Damon could see the tinge of blue in her skin and lips. He brushed her wet hair away from her face and saw her stir a little.

"Damon…" she breathed, her voice faint to even his ears.

"Hold on Cailee," he whispered, gently slipping his arms under her body. "Hold on for a moment longer."

She didn't make another sound, but Damon could feel her heartbeat through her cold skin. He turned and looked up at Stefan. He had to toss her gently up so that Stefan to could catch her. It disturbed him to see her head swinging limply over Stefan's arm as he climbed out.

"We have to get her warm," he said, jumping out of the hole. "Give her your jacket. I'll give her mine too."

Stefan didn't move, looking down at Cailee with a frown. "Damon, she's really cold and really weak…I think it's time for her to go to the hospital."

Damon looked at him like he was crazy as he draped his jacket over Cailee's small body. "She's fine. Look at her, she's already getting some of her color back."

It was a lie. She was turning bluer. Ice was clinging to her eye lashes and frost was covering her chin and the collar of her shirt where her breath had frozen. Damon knew that if he didn't get her somewhere warm and out of those cold, wet clothes, that she wouldn't be waking up to say his name again.

"Damon," Stefan said gently, looking his brother evenly in the eye. "It's time."

Damon opened his mouth to argue, but he thought better of it. Cailee needed help and in the hospital, she'd get the help she needed right now. "Fine, but I'm not leaving her for a minute."

Stefan nodded and straightened, holding Cailee in his arms. "Very well."

He passed Cailee over to Damon so he could call Elena to tell her that they would be going to the hospital with Cailee. From where he stood, Damon could hear her saying that she had already called the ambulance and that they would be there in a matter of minutes.

"I panicked," Elena said over the phone as the two men walked out of the woods. "Bonnie and I thought we were losing her and we had to do something. Getting them there was all we could think of doing." She hesitated. "Is Damon mad?"

Stefan glanced over at Damon, who was staring down at Cailee's face with a pained expression. "No. He wants her to get help as much as we do."

There were people waiting for them as they exited the woods and Damon had to pass Cailee over to the paramedics. He watched as they piled blanket after blanket on her and placed her on a stretcher. She looked so peaceful as she laid there, ice clinging to her hair. A beautiful little snow queen, sleeping until her prince came to wake her up. If she would wake up.

_Please be all right Cailee,_ he thought, climbing into the back of the ambulance when he was offered the chance. _We'll pull through this together…we always do._

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Elena stood outside Cailee's room with Stefan, watching Damon cling to Cailee's hand like it was the only thing that was real. Like it was the only thing keeping the sleeping girl from fading away, leaving them all behind.

"I've never seen him this way," Elena whispered, looking away from Damon for a moment. "He looks so…helpless…"

"In all of the years that I've known him, I've never seen him look like this either," Stefan agreed. "Not for Katherine. Not for you. Not for anyone." The corner of his lips curved up in a slight smile. "I really think he's fallen in love with the right person."

"So he's found his soul mate after hundreds of years," Elena muttered. "Only to lose her because he didn't send her to the hospital in the first place."

"Elena when the heart calls for another and you've found your soul mate, you'll never want to let that person go. Not even if it helps them. You'll want to keep them close to you forever and see them happy." Stefan looked at Damon and Cailee. "Damon wanted to keep her happy and she was happiest away from the hospital. He may have been stupid for not seeking help when she was getting out of hand, but he was listening to his heart." He sighed. "It took a lot out of him to get Cailee here."

"But he could lose her," Elena said. "She's still blue and the doctors aren't sure if she'll wake up."

"She will," Stefan promised. "Damon has faith in her."

Elena sighed and looked back at Damon and Cailee. "For his sake, I hope so."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: It is short I know, but I'm trying to keep this story from going out of control. I think there's only going to be one or two more chapters after this one. I haven't really decided yet. **

**Please review because it lets me know where I've screwed up and where I've done a good job. Thanks! ~ Scarlet**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: You guys seemed to like what I put in the last chapter. I'm sorry that I made some of you almost cry, but maybe that was my way of thinking last time. Oh well…here's some more of the story for you.**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Damon looked up as Bonnie entered the room. She offered him a cup of coffee, but he turned his face away from her, looking back at Cailee. She wasn't very blue anymore. In fact, she looked almost like herself, dressed in that horribly tacky hospital gown. He knew she would have a fit if she found herself in one of those ridiculous outfits, but that was only if she woke up.

"She's not going to wake up, is she?" Damon asked Bonnie quietly.

"She is," Bonnie said, sitting down on the opposite side of the bed. "The doctors said that she has a good chance of waking up in the next couple of hours."

"They said that hours ago," Damon pointed out, staring at Cailee with a frown. "She was supposed to wake up yesterday and she didn't." He lifted his eyes to Bonnie again. "They've warmed her up to the right temperature and ran tests on her. She's perfectly fine, but she won't wake up."

Bonnie looked down at her hands for a moment. "Damon, Cailee isn't one of my best friends, but she saw me as someone she could trust with her secrets. There were a lot of secrets she didn't want getting out to the world, a lot of questions that she wanted answered and she thought I could be her secret keeper. Damon, she told me that when things were getting really bad, she'd go catatonic and see only the hallucination. She didn't like doing that, but you helped her through it. She told me that you helped her come up with a place she could go when the hallucinations and the voices got too bad for her. A safe place where the voices wouldn't bother her. Not as much."

"The meadow with purple roses," Damon whispered, remembering the world he had helped create with Cailee.

Bonnie nodded. "She told me she liked it there. She felt happy and safe there because you had helped her create it…but she felt wrong going to the meadow sometimes. It bothered her that she went there after she had hallucinations of hurting you or of you saying horrible things to her. Cailee said it made the place feel tainted…"

"Are you getting somewhere with this?" Damon demanded, feeling a little irritated with travelling down memory lane.

"Cailee may be in the meadow right now," Bonnie stated, looking at Cailee. "She's probably there healing from her last hallucination and it must have been a bad one. She looks peaceful…maybe she'll come out of it soon. But whatever the case is, I know she's going to wake up."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Damon, she loves you. All she could talk about when I hung out with her was you. She wanted to make you proud of her when she was having good days. The voices made it hard for her to get close to people because she was afraid of the way they would react when they saw her have an episode…but not with you. She let her defenses drop around you and allowed herself to be herself around you. Cailee wanted to make sure you fell in love with her and not the persona she gave off to other people." Bonnie smiled a small smile. "And if you think that she would let someone like you find someone else, you think wrong."

"Are you implying something?" Damon smirked and looked at Cailee, taking one of her hands in his. "I've got quite a catch with this one. If she goes, I'll follow. She's not going to get rid of me no matter how hard she tries."

"Soul mates…" Bonnie whispered with subdued happiness. "I'm glad for the two of you…but if you ever hurt her, you're going to have me on your ass."

"Was that a threat?" Damon cocked an eyebrow and looked at her.

"It was a promise."

"Does a 'burn at the stake' mean anything to you?"

"Funny. I was thinking a wooden bullet for you." Bonnie smiled at him and got to her feet. "I'll leave you alone with her."

Damon let her get as far as the door before clearing his throat. "You forgot something."

"What?"

"My coffee."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_Cailee spun around and around in the meadow, brushing her fingertips against the velvety purple rose petals. The roses had no thorns so Cailee danced through them without a care. She was happy and safe._

"_Cailee."_

_Cailee turned and saw a man dressed in white standing there. It took a moment for her to realize that it was Damon. A small smile graced her lips as she looked at the man she loved. "Damon."_

"_You've got to come back to me," Damon told her, holding his hand out. "You've got to come back to the real world Cailee."_

"_Why Damon? Why?" Cailee demanded. "I'm happy here. I can do anything I want, be anything I want. I'm safe here and happy. I don't have to hide myself behind the lies of sanity here." She laughed. "I'm the sanest one here!"_

_Damon shook his head. Cailee didn't know why he didn't understand that she didn't want to go back. She wanted to stay here forever._

"_Cailee, if you don't come back soon, you'll never be able to come back," Damon told her sadly. "You won't wake up in my arms or have another one of my kisses. We'll never see Paris, the Northern Lights, or any of the wonders of the world that you wanted to see."_

"_But Damon, I'm happy here…" Cailee's smile slipped off her face as Damon crossed the small distance that stood between them. "In our special place…"_

_Damon touched her face, gently cupping it with his right hand. His ring was warm against her cheek. "Cailee, you were happy with me. Weren't you?"_

"_Yes Damon. Of course I was."_

"_I want to show you the world…I want to show you to the world…I want to grow old with you and remain eternally youthful with you…but I can't do any of that unless you come back to me. Come back to reality."_

_Cailee looked up at him, feeling suddenly very tired and sad. She turned and looked out at the purple roses, fluttering under a gentle breeze. "Will I ever be able to come back here?"_

"_Yes, but not for long. You always have to come back to me…"_

_Cailee sighed¸ turning her eyes up to the heavens. The breeze was blowing in soft white clouds, obscuring the sun. Soft rays of sunshine peeked out from between the clouds and touched her face gently._

"_Damon, I won't last long if I go back," Cailee whispered, looking at him once more. "The next episode…I won't be able to handle it as well as this time…and the vampires that keep coming to our town, won't let me pass on by without taking a nibble…You could lose me forever in violence…" Her eyes softened, growing a littler sadder. "Wouldn't you rather lose me in peace?"_

_Damon shook his head and pulled her to him. Cailee closed her eyes and rested her cheek against his chest, listening to his faint heartbeat, remembering hers in the moments she had laid in the cold, dark hole. Was she still like that?_

"_I won't lose you," Damon told her, his words soft to her ears. "I won't let anyone steal you away from me. Not another vampire. Not God. No one will take you away from me…because I…I love you, Cailee."_

_Cailee opened her eyes and looked into his. She saw how watery they had become and she didn't like that. It worried her, scared her even. She had never seen Damon cry, he was always the strong rock that she could count on in the bad times. But to see him showing this weakness, this human weakness was bizarre._

"_Damon, don't cry," Cailee whispered, touching his face. "I'll come back with you because I love you…"_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Elena and Stefan walked to the room where Cailee had been sleeping. The bed was empty and the chair beside it was abandoned. Elena turned and attracted the attention of a passing nurse.

"Excuse me," she said. "We're looking for the girl that was in this room. A girl named Cailee?"  
The nurse checked her clipboard and shook her head. "Her husband came and got her."

"She's awake?" Stefan asked.

"Not that I know of," the nurse said. "Excuse me, I have to go."

Stefan watched her walk off before looking back at Elena. "He fed on her. I could smell her blood in that room even over the scent of bleach…"

"That doesn't make sense," Elena muttered, awkwardly shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "He loves her and he knows that she's unconscious…Why would he take blood from her?"

Stefan's eyes narrowed as he realized what was going on. "He's going to turn her."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Damon gently cradled Cailee in his arms, dancing with her slowly. She was coming in and out of unconsciousness, never fully waking out of it, even with his blood in her system. Her face was that of someone at peace as he danced with her around the room.

Her eyes fluttered open for a moment and locked on him. "Damon…" she sighed, her voice sounding tired.

"Good evening Ms. Cailee," Damon whispered, smiling softly at her.

"It's time…right?" Cailee asked quietly.

Damon nodded, his smile faltering and falling in a second. "It's time…"

Cailee smiled a wan smile at him, closing her eyes. "Okay…just let me say goodbye…"

Her eyes stayed closed and she made no other sound. Damon gently laid her on the bed, her hair serving as another pillow for her head. It tore at his heart to see her looking so peaceful before the end. His hands shook as he gently cupped the back of her head and cupped her chin with the other hand.

"Forgive me," Damon whispered, breaking her neck with a horrible cracking sound that made his stomach clench painfully.

Cailee stopped breathing. She stopped moving. She stopped doing everything. He couldn't hear her heartbeat anymore. She was dead…

"Forgive me, Cailee," Damon breathed, tears falling in a never ending river down his face as he gently touched Cailee's cheek. "Forgive me…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: And so, Cailee dies. But is this really the end of her? We shall see once I get the next chapter going. Until then, read and review! ~ Scarlet**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: You are a bunch of awesome reviewers! I hate to say it but this story is almost over. But as a Valentine update, I'd like to say Happy Valentines Day!**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Stefan burst through the door of the house that he had originally traced Cailee to. Elena followed quickly behind him, looking around for any sign of Cailee. There was no sign of her downstairs, so Stefan led the way upstairs, pausing half way when he caught the strong scent of her blood.

Stefan kicked open the door to the bedroom that the smell was coming from and paused in the doorway staring. Elena elbowed past him and saw Damon sitting on the edge of the bed, next to a still Cailee.

"You can't turn her!" she exclaimed, watching Damon caress Cailee's peaceful face. It was much too peaceful in her opinion.

"It's a little late for you to be saying that," Damon commented, glancing up at them.

"You already turned her," Stefan said, his brow furrowing.

Damon sighed. "If you had been here an hour ago, you might have been able to stop me…The heroes bursting in to save the damsel in distress." He shook his head. "Save the beautiful monster from a horrible monster…but you didn't come. You didn't stop me from breaking her neck."

Elena stared at him in shock. "You_ killed_ her?"

"Didn't your boy-toy tell you about how vampires are created?" Damon asked, looking once more at Cailee's peaceful face.

"How could you?" Elena demanded, growing angry. "You loved her!" She took a step closer, her hands clenching into fists. "She trusted you!"

Damon's eyes turned a soulless black and he glared at her with something animal-like in his eyes. "I know!" he snarled. "Do you think I enjoyed the fact that I had to kill her? I love her. I didn't want anything bad to happen to her. She was my world and… I had to kill her or she would never survive."

"Damon, do you realize what you could have created?" Stefan asked, watching Cailee's face for any trace of movement.

"A beautiful monster," Damon whispered before he snarled again. "Don't tell me that you wouldn't have done the same if your precious Elena was the one who needed to find peace in the world! Cailee was my everything and she trusted me to make everything better, to make her live in peace and to just live in this world." He glared at Stefan. "She would have died if I hadn't turned her. Her body was shutting down and her mind was wandering farther and farther away from me. You should understand why I did what I did." He looked away and caressed Cailee's face again. "You would have done the same if Elena had been in Cailee's place."

Stefan glanced at Elena. She stared back at him for a moment before looking back at the two people on the bed. He knew that he would have done the same if Cailee had been Elena. She was his everything and he would have done anything to keep her with him, happy and whole, no matter the consequences.

But Elena was not Cailee. She wasn't schizophrenic. She hadn't suffered from hypothermia. And Cailee had. Cailee had been looking for peace and as much as Stefan wanted to see his brother happy, Stefan knew that Cailee was better off never coming back. He didn't want to think of the consequences of Cailee waking up as a vampire with schizophrenia. The world would not be prepared for something like that.

"Damon, she can't wake up," Stefan told him quietly. "Not after everything she's been through."

"People have been turned in far worse conditions than her. From the brink of death and still they live as vampires." Damon shook his head. "She will wake up. She promised that she would stay with me forever. For our love."

Elena crossed her arms. "Damon, you should have waited for her to recover."

"Weren't you listening?" Damon demanded, glaring at her. "She was dying! If I hadn't stepped in, she'd be dead in a few hours."

"But she's dead right now," Elena pointed out coldly.

Damon opened his mouth to say something, but closed it just as fast. He looked back at Cailee's peaceful face and willed her to come back to life. She didn't move, didn't breathe. She was cold to the touch and growing colder by the minute.

"Damon…" Stefan muttered, unsure of what to say.

"Don't say anything," Damon ordered, never taking his eyes off Cailee's face. "Don't tell me that my efforts were all for nothing. Don't tell me that my love for Cailee was worth nothing. All of this…was for nothing. Don't tell me that…" He sighed and picked up one of Cailee's hands, holding it gently in his. "I just wanted everything to work out for us. To have that happily ever after that I've been looking for through all of these centuries. To make her the happiest girl in the world…to grant her peace in this world…"

He cracked a small smile as he remembered so many perfect moments where he could have told this to Cailee when she was living. Did she ever know how he really felt about her? Had he not told her that he loved her enough? Had his love been too late to save her?

"Damon…we'll give you an hour with her," Stefan told him. "Then, if she doesn't wake up, we'll need to call someone."

Damon sighed again. "Fine."

Stefan took Elena by her arm and pulled her out of the room, closing the door behind the two of them to give Damon and his love some privacy.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_Cailee was reading a book when Damon plucked the book out of her hands and placed his head on her lap. She looked down at him with a smile as he flipped through the pages of the book._

"_What are you doing reading self-help books?" Damon asked, stopping to look at a picture in the book._

"_I need to come up with new ways to help myself," Cailee commented, reaching for the book, but Damon held it beyond her reach. "My episodes are getting closer together and longer. I'm starting to think that I'm really going crazy…maybe even worse than crazy. Psychotic."_

"_Well, you won't find anything helpful in here," Damon said, tossing the book aside. "These books are nothing but garbage written by worthless people who have nothing better to do in life than give their own opinion of how to deal with common problems. You'll learn nothing helpful." He smiled, reaching up to run his fingers through her hair. "You could always ask me for help."_

"_Damon, you know I would love nothing better than to have you be the person I turn to for help all of the time, but you are no expert in schizophrenia. You can't always be there to help me."_

"_Just try to stop me."_

"_No. I need to be able to help myself before I grow to dependant on you." Cailee scratched her head, swatting his hand aside. "Damon…I've got something to tell you."_

"_Don't tell me you're pregnant."_

"_No! I am not pregnant!" Cailee shook her head furiously. "I just…well I've been having hallucinations of…bad things."_

"_That doesn't sound new."_

"_I've seen myself dying…at my own hands." Cailee admitted quietly. "I slit my wrists…I eat rat poison…I stab myself in my stomach…I take a gun and shoot myself in the head…I run into traffic… I jump from the top of a building…"_

_Damon's eyes widened and he sat up, turning to face Cailee. She was looking down at her hands now and they were shaking. _

"_Cailee, have you tried any of those things?" Damon demanded._

"_No…not yet," Cailee whispered. "I'm scared Damon. I don't want to see these things and it's getting harder and harder to deal with it...I just want to find peace." She looked up at him with watery eyes. "You're the only reason that I've held on this long…but I'm afraid that it might never be enough."_

_Damon pulled Cailee to him and stroked her hair as he held her against his body. He could feel her trembling against him and wished there was something he could do to help her…_

"_Cailee, tell me what you want me to do," Damon breathed in her ear. "Do you want me to stay with you twenty- four seven? I'll hold your hand for as long as you need me to and I'll hold you in my arms until the world comes to an end…"_

"_Damon, I want peace. I want to know that I'll never hurt you again. You or anybody else. I don't want to be afraid all of the time…" Cailee sighed and her breath tickled his neck. "Damon, I don't want to die…"_

"_You won't," Damon promised, his hand sliding from her hair to her back. "I'll keep you alive and young forever."_

"_As a vampire?"_

"_As a vampire."_

_Cailee pushed herself away from him, putting a little distance between their bodies. "But I will die then too. You have to kill me to make me a vampire."_

"_It's a temporary death," Damon told her. "You'll come back within a couple of hours."_

"_I don't…" She turned her face away from him and swung her hand at thin air as if she was batting aside a monster. "No…"_

_She pushed herself to her feet and walked away from him. Damon clambered to his feet and hurried behind her. Cailee stopped and looked up at the sky, hugging herself._

_Damon wrapped his arms around her, sliding his fingers in between hers. "Cailee, what are you afraid of?" he asked her quietly._

"_Me."_

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Damon lay next to Cailee's body, his arm thrown across her slim waist. She looked so peaceful as she slept the eternal sleep of death. It struck him as odd to think that the thing she had not wanted to happen had granted her the peace that she had been searching for. Yet, it was the same thing that had taken her away from him.

"Cailee, come back to me," Damon whispered, looking at her peaceful face. "Come back and I promise I'll take care of you. I won't let the hallucinations control you anymore. I'll do anything for you that will make you happy. I'll love you like there's no tomorrow…"

He let out an awkward chuckle. "I know there's no tomorrow. If you don't wake up from this, there will be no tomorrow for either of us. Stefan and Elena will take your body to be cremated or something and then I'll join you in death by taking my own life." He brushed a strand of her hair away from her face. "You see, there's no point in living if you're not there to live in this world with me. I found something great in you and then I lost it because I made a mistake. I should have never left you alone…If I hadn't you'd be fine, happy and alive. Who cares if you were a little crazy? Who isn't?" He sighed. "I would have been happy taking care of you for the rest of time. Yeah, me, the solitary badass would be happy playing the nurse maid as long I got to be with you…"

Cailee didn't move. Damon heard a timer go off downstairs and knew that his hour with Cailee was up. There was no chance that she would wake up before the two intruders came upstairs. Damon sighed and kissed her on the forehead.

"It was one hell of an adventure being with you, Miss Cailee," Damon whispered, climbing to his feet. "But all good things must come to an end…I bid you adieu in this life and I will see you in the next…"

As he climbed to his feet, he could have sworn that he saw her fingers twitch…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: So, is she alive or was Damon seeing things? Stay tuned to the next chapter and always remember to review! ~ Scarlet**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So, here comes another chapter closer to the ending of this tale…Answers will be given, but not all questions will be answered… **

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Stefan looked away from the window when he heard Elena's phone go off. "You didn't have to set an alarm," he commented, watching her play with her phone.

"Yes I did," Elena muttered, shoving her phone into her back pocket. "He had an hour to be with her and I think that was too much for him. Who knows what he has done up there? He could have run away with her body, Stefan."

"They're still up there," Stefan commented, glancing up at the ceiling. "I think he's coming down the stairs now."

"Good. Now we don't have to hunt him down and pry him away from Cailee's body," Elena grumbled, pushing herself to her feet. "You know, for someone who is against the killing of innocent people, you haven't done anything."

"What would you have me do?"

"Get mad at him. He ended a life. A life he claimed that he loved with all of the passion in the world." Elena shrugged. "Just do something to make him pay."

"I think with the loss of his love, he's paid enough. Don't you?"

Elena stood there, thinking about it for a moment. "Maybe…but people are going to question how she died. Complications from hypothermia don't cause complete blood loss."

"We'll cross that bridge when we have to."

Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Damon appeared in the room, his eyes dark with grief and self loathing. Stefan felt a wave of sympathy hit him, but there was nothing he could do to make this better. For once the 'hero' couldn't save the day.

"You could have stayed up there for a few more minutes," Stefan told his brother. "We would have come up there in a little while anyway."

"You would have found me as a mess if I didn't get out of there," Damon mumbled, running a hand through his dark hair. "I would have held onto her body and not let anyone take her away from me."

"So, she's not a vampire?" Elena questioned, her eyes narrowed.

"No." Damon looked at Stefan with sad eyes. "She won't wake up…I…I killed her and she's never going to come back to me."

Stefan shot Elena a look when she opened her mouth to say something mean and she quickly closed her mouth. "Damon, I'm sorry for your loss."

Damon gave him a dirty look. "Don't use that line on me. You're not sorry. You're just glad that it wasn't your girlfriend who died. Well, you know what Stefan? I hate your guts and I hope to God that you and your girlfriend die in a burning car wreck. Or have a werewolf kill you. Whichever is the most painful."

"Damon, he's trying to be nice to you," Elena said, glaring at him.

"And you," Damon snapped, rounding on her. "You made Cailee feel like crap!"

"What?"

"When you first came over and got hit by her, she felt like crap! All she wanted was to be accepted by all of the people at school and you people made her life a nightmare. Do you know how many times she came home crying because of the noise that you _children _created and how you left her out of every event just because she was different?" His face turned ugly with hate. "She looked up to you, Elena! You were her idol at that stupid school and you wouldn't even notice her unless she made herself stand out from the crowd for a few minutes! The only people she had in this world were me and Bonnie! You _good guys _completely ignored her when she needed your help the most!"

Elena stared at him in shock. "She idolized me?"  
"Yes!" Damon snarled, his eyes blackening. "I warned her against the idea after she came home crying too many times! But she wouldn't listen because she was convinced that you could be her friend! Was she wrong?"

Stefan stepped in front of Elena protectively. "Damon, calm down," he ordered. "I know you're upset with the world right now because you lost someone that you loved, but you can't attack your friends."

"Some friends you are!"

A soft sigh was heard and Stefan turned to look at Elena. She looked confused.

"Did you hear that too?" Elena asked, looking up at him.

They all looked towards the stairs when they heard soft footsteps retreating up them. Damon's eyes narrowed.

"That better not be the stray cat that lives near the trashcan!" he growled, walking out of the room.

Elena and Stefan followed him, but there was no sign of a cat. As they climbed the stairs they could hear something moving softly around the bedroom that Damon had vacated moments before. Elena looked at Stefan and opened her mouth, but he shook his head and effectively silenced her.

"Damon, be careful," Stefan said as his brother made to open the closed door to the bedroom. "We don't know what we're dealing with."

Damon rolled his eyes and gripped the door handle, turning it slowly. He pushed open the door and his eyes widened. "Cailee?"

Stefan and Elena filed into the room behind him and saw that Cailee was sitting up in the bed with her legs drawn under her. She had color in her face and her eyes were full of life. A small smile appeared on her lips as she looked at Damon.

"I don't understand," Elena whispered, staring at her. "She's dead, right?"

"She's a vampire."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Damon stared at Cailee in shock. He had left her moments ago, stone cold dead, but here she was in complete life as a creature of the night. A vampire.

"Damon, aren't you going to say something?" she asked, tilting her head to one side with a small smile on her face.

"You were dead…" Damon breathed, taking a step closer to her.

"Yes. That's part of the process," Cailee commented as if she was knowledgeable about this kind of thing. "And I had to say goodbye to my old self, so I took a little longer getting back." She held her arms open. "But I'm here now…Alive and still full of love for you."

Damon had her in his arms in a flash. He held her close and breathed in her scent, drinking in her appearance, her heartbeat. Everything that he had thought he had lost forever just moments ago.

"Oh Cailee," he breathed, burying his face against her neck. "I thought I lost you forever…"

Cailee giggled, stroking his hair. "That sounded really corny."

"It's the truth…"

Cailee turned her eyes away from him and he saw something in him that he hadn't seen in a long time. Clarity. There was no pain, no confusion. All the normal things he had seen in her eyes when she was consumed by the sickness were gone, leaving behind clarity, happiness, and love.

"You two can go now," Cailee told Stefan and Elena. "Damon probably already upset you enough already and I'm afraid he might do it again."

Damon lifted his head and looked over at his brother and Elena. They were watching the two of them with surprise.

"We can't leave until we hear the answer to one important question," Stefan said, taking a step forward.

"No, you can leave now." Damon sat up and wrapped his arm around Cailee's shoulders. "Cailee and I have to get reacquainted and little children like you shouldn't be around when that happens." He glanced at Cailee. "Does fifteen blocks away sound like a reasonable distance away from here? What do you think?"

Cailee smacked him lightly on the arm and looked back at Stefan. "What's your direly important question? Or can it wait until Damon has his fun?"

"It can wait," Damon said, giving Stefan a pointed glare. He wanted the stupid 'hero' out of there as soon as possible.

"It can't wait," Stefan declared, staring directly into Cailee's eyes. "It's important to everyone in town, everyone in the world."

"If you want to know when the Rapture is going to happen, I'm sorry but I didn't get that answer when I was heading towards the light at the end of the tunnel." Cailee smiled and adjusted the strap of her nightdress. "And if has anything to do with smarts, I'm sorry I don't have any."  
Stefan shook his head. "I need to know something about your head."

"Okay."

"Are you still hearing the voices and seeing the hallucinations?" Stefan inquired.

Damon looked at Cailee as she sat there silently. "Cailee?"

Cailee looked at him and opened her mouth to speak…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: So is she cured? Can vampirism cure something like schizophrenia? I wouldn't know because I'm not a vampire, but we'll find out what I think would happen. But is it a positive view? Stay tuned and continue to review! ~ Scarlet**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: And this my friends…is the final chapter. I'm glad I had such faithful reviewers as I worked on this story, but I'm afraid you're just going to have to find someone else to read and review their stories. Thank you all and here's what I wish would happen to me…**

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Cailee smiled at Stefan and cocked her head to one side. "Why is that your concern?"

"I'm thinking about the races here," Stefan said, staring at her. "If you're still hearing the voices and you're a vampire, you're a threat to both races. You could reveal the secret of vampires to the humans and you could kill a number of humans. I need to know."

"Speaking of killing," Damon said, looking at Cailee. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Famished…" Cailee commented with a small smile. "But Damon, I have to answer your brother's question before he even lets me out the bedroom door."

"We could always go through him," Damon pointed out. "He's only one vampire…against a newborn and an older vampire, he stands no chance. We could even get you a snack off his girlfriend."

Cailee shook her head. "I don't want to hurt them. They've been good to me. Better than you thought they were anyway…I guess the sickness got a little too close to home for some people…" She looked at Stefan. "You deserve answers."

"I only want one," Stefan told her. "I don't want to waste your time."

"Do I hear the voices and see the hallucinations?" Cailee repeated the question to herself. "Well, ever since I woke up, things have been pretty quiet. And as far as hallucinations go….I've got nothing to report."

"So, you're cured?" Stefan asked.

"That's two questions," Damon commented.

"As far as I know," Cailee told him before crossing her heart. "I promise."

Stefan smiled and stepped back. "That's all I wanted to know."

"Good. Now leave," Damon ordered, waving his hand in a shooing motion. "And close the door behind you. We don't need any strays wandering in here, but if you find two decent looking people, we'll take them."

Elena shot him a withering look and walked out of the room. Stefan closed the door and could be heard following his girlfriend down the stairs. Damon and Cailee listened carefully until they heard the car pull away from the front of the house and rumble down the street.

"Now Miss Cailee, I think a celebration is in order," Damon said, looking at her with a smirk on his face. "You have a clean bill of health and you have successfully made it into vampire-hood. I believe that calls for a celebration."

"Damon, all I want to do is eat something," Cailee muttered, looking at him. "Or someone." She sighed. "I'll never get used to this hunger."

"Yes, you will," Damon promised. "You'll grow accustomed to everything vampire in no time."

She shook her head. "Damon, I'm afraid I may have lied to your brother."

Damon's smile fell. "What?"

"I'm afraid that I might not be cured for very long," Cailee whispered, looking down at her hands. "I'm afraid that the voices and hallucinations may come back."

"But they're gone right now?"

"Yes. For now…"

"Then consider that a blessing." He pulled her into his arms. "Cailee, you can't look down upon yourself and the blessing that you were given. You were granted these moments of clarity and as long as you keep these moments in mind, you know that there was a time where you were at peace. Don't think about the next five minutes, not even the next minute. Take it one moment at a time and enjoy it for what it's worth."

"Is that what you do when you're with me?" Cailee asked, looking at him. "Take it one moment at a time."

Damon nodded. "I do. Every moment I spend with you, I spend like it's my last. That way, I cherish it more. But I'm in it for the long haul now. I'll spend forever with you, Ms. Cailee."

Cailee smiled slightly. "We're both monsters now."

"Not monsters," Damon told her, touching her lips with a finger. "We're special people. Super people even. We can be anything we want to be."

"Why don't we just stay the same as we ever were?"

"I'd like that, but with more benefits."

"What do you mean?" Cailee asked as Damon climbed out of bed, leaving her alone.

"Well, Miss Cailee, I'm afraid I have to make an honest woman out of you," Damon said, walking over to a corner of the room where his jacket was. "I can't have you running off to find some other vampire after a couple of centuries. And I can't let my own eyes wander."

"Aw…you don't want to share me?" Cailee teased, tossing her legs over the side of the bed.

"No. And you don't want to share me either." He smirked as he turned around with something small in his hand. "Although, we could always bring in a third person if you're feel up for it…"

"No, I won't share you," Cailee said, appearing in front of him. "Damon, I'm hungry. Really hungry."

Damon smirked at her and slipped his hand into his pocket. "I know just what you need."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Cailee leaned her body close to a boy, pressing herself closer to him until she could feel his heartbeat against her skin. Damon was nearby, feasting on the neck of his random victim. He let the girl go after a few moments, having fed enough. With a whispered word, she was under his power and instantly forgot what had happened to her, falling asleep on the spot.

He turned his eyes onto Cailee and smiled. She was doing fine for a newly formed vampire, not a drop of blood spilled down the boy's neck. And she stopped feeding when her stomach was almost full of the boy's sweet blood. The boy should have considered himself lucky. Not all fresh vampires had that kind of control over their hunger. Damon hadn't.

"Damon, I don't know what to do now," Cailee whispered, watching the boy sway. "Help me, please…"

Damon turned the boy to face him and stared him directly in the eyes. The boy fell a second later, sleeping off his lightheadedness. "I'll teach you how to win over the minds of the weak." A small smirk touched his lips. "Maybe Stefan will let us practice on Elena and Bonnie…"

Cailee stepped over the boy and wrapped her arms lightly around Damon's neck. "Thank you for being such a nice teacher."

"I'm only doing what any good sire would do for their fledgling. But of course, I get the benefits most sires don't get."

A blush tinged Cailee's cheeks. Damon wondered how long it would remain there before being undead took away such color in her face. He hoped that it would never fade.

"Damon, you said that you were going to make an honest woman out of me," Cailee said, tilting her head to the side slightly. "Aren't I honest enough?"

"You don't know what I was talking about, do you?"

"Old fashioned terminology is not something I am proficient at," Cailee admitted.

Damon reached into his pocket and pulled the tiny object out. "This is what I'm talking about, Miss Cailee…"

Cailee stared at the ring. It was simple ring, passed down through the generations of the Salvatore family. A few diamonds sparkled along the white-gold band, but it had a simple, elegant charm to it. He just knew that it would look even better on Cailee's hand.

"Damon…" Cailee breathed, looking up into his eyes now. "Are you – are you sure?"

"I've never been surer of anything in my life," he said. "Wait…I've always been sure that I am the sexiest man alive, but…" He shook his head and looked at her with a soft smile on his lips. "I think we could raise heaven and hell together. Just think of all the places we'll get to see. Paris, Cairo, Tokyo…wherever you want to go, we'll see it all. Dear Miss Cailee, will you become my blushing bride and my sole reason for getting off the dating scene forever and more?"

Cailee smiled up at him as he slid the ring on her finger. "Damon…I would love nothing more."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**A/N: So, here it ends. Here we part ways until such a time comes that I consider doing a sequel. You've read what I wish would happen to me in the real world, but don't worry, I'll be fine. Cailee will be fine as well. **

**Thank you all again for reading and reviewing this story. It meant a lot to me. Thanks. ~ Scarlet**


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